Peach Sriracha BBQ Sauce
I really enjoy making different BBQ Sauces - the flavors are really fun and the possibilities really are endless. From root beer to fig and even strawberry, we've made our share of sauces.
I have been dreaming about a peach sriracha bbq sauce for a while, now, and today was the day to make it happen.
Sriracha is a flavor profile that I really like. Southeast Asian with lots of heat - but with lots of flavor. It's not just heat for heats's sake.
So... armed with 8 pounds of peaches and 7 huge red peppers, I went to work. First was roasting the peppers...
The peppers had me drooling. There's something about charring peppers and steaming them in a bag that just gets my gastric juices flowing. It took great restraint to keep from just eating them standing up in the kitchen.
Into the pot they went with a couple pounds of onions, a full head of garlic, and the peaches. I put the peaches - unpeeled - into the food processor and mashed them up pretty well before adding them to the pot.
And then went in a whole bottle of Sriracha Sauce, a cup of pure cane syrup, 2 heaping tablespoons of smoked paprika, a full bottle of catsup, 2 cups apple cider vinegar, and some salt and pepper... and I let it simmer away for about an hour.
Into sterilized jars and into the pressure canner.
Alas, one jar didn't make it. I have a few old jars that I really do need to just replace - I've been reusing them for years. Note to self: go through the jars downstairs...
But they cleaned up nicely.
I ended up with 8 quarts of sauce. Methinks I may get some smaller jars at some point and re-can some of it for Christmas.
We shall see.
In the meantime... here's the recipe:
Peach Sriracha BBQ Sauce
- 8 pounds fresh, ripe peaches
- 7 large red bell peppers
- 2 pounds onions
- 1 head garlic
- 2 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 bottle sriracha sauce
- 1 bottle catsup
- 1 cup cane syrup
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper
Roast peppers, steam, peel, and chop. Set aside.
Chop 2 pounds onions and saute in a large pot until translucent, using about a quarter cup olive oil.
Add peppers and minced garlic.
Pit peaches. In batches, chop in food processor, and add to pot.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Let sauce simmer about an hour, stirring now and then to keep from scorching.
Using an immersion blender, blend sauce until smooth.
Place sauce into hot, sterilized jars, and process in a hot water bath or pressure canner according to manufacturers instructions. (About 15 minutes at 11 pounds pressure for a pressure canner.)
I have to admit it came out great. It's going on grilled chicken, tonight - and steaks tomorrow!
Bucatini and 14 quarts of Sauce
Another Sunday... Another vat of sauce...
We used our last jar of sauce a few days ago, so Victor hit the kitchen early this morning to make another batch. 14 quarts lasted us from mid-December to early April, so the 14 quarts today should carry us into mid-Summer.
Having jars of your own homemade sauce on the shelf really is one of life's great pleasures. They make for some quick and easy dinners when I work late, and they're a great for those nights when I want to get a bit creative and Nonna isn't feeling adventurous.
With a big pot and some mason jars, it's quite easy to make large batches of things. It saves on time and money in the long run - and you actually get to know what you're eating. It's major win-win.
And it really is easy. Most of the time involved is unattended - letting things boil, simmer, or pressure-can. This is Victor's basic recipe - he uses a dozen 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes for a canning batch.
And what goes with homemade sauce? Homemade bread, of course! Victor made 2 loaves of bread yesterday while I was at work. He also made a banana-chocolate cake. He's been busy in the kitchen!
The bread is classic James Beard.
French-Style Bread
Ingredients
- 1½ packages active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups warm water (l00° to 115°, approximately)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 5 to 6 cups all-purpose or hard-wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon egg white, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
Directions
Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large bowl and allow to proof. Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, a cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough. Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky, about 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1½ to 2 hours.
Punch down the dough. Turn out on a floured board and shape into two long, French bread-style loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal but not buttered. Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places, and brush with the egg wash. Place in a cold oven, set the temperature at 400°, and bake 35 minutes, or until well browned and hollow sounding when the tops are rapped.
We ate well, tonight. Of course, we eat well every night, but tonight was especially well!
And there's at least 13 more meals to come!
Victor's Pasta Sauce
I am one happy guy, tonight - I have 14 quarts of homemade pasta sauce canned, labelled, and sitting on the shelf just waiting to be eaten!
A year or so ago we got a pressure canner to start making more things at home. Victor has made sauce a couple of times, but we've been out for weeks, now... I've been going through withdrawal. Having homemade sauce on the shelf is one of the most fabulous luxuries in life. Really. It's always delicious, dinner can be on the table in minutes, and we know when it was made and what went into it.
What a concept, eh?!?
He started out with a case of Cento San Marzano tomatoes, a few pounds of pork, garlic, onions, basil, cheese...
All into the pot to simmer, slowly, for a few hours...
As soon as it reached its peak perfection, it went into jars...
I picked up a different jar this time around. I still have a slew of mason jars downstairs, but thought it time for something different.
They went right into the canner...
I really do like this so much better than doing the water bath - especially for quarts. It also takes about half the time, start-to-finish.
The jars sit on the counter and continue to boil inside for a good 20 minutes before finally starting to cool down. It's cool to watch.
But it's even more fun to eat!
14 quarts and at least 2 other meals from one pot.
It's been a successful day in the kitchen!
Victor's Pasta Sauce
- 2 – 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
- 1 – Sm can tomato paste
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (or to taste if you like more) chopped fine
- Olive oil
- Dried Italian seasonings
- Hot red pepper flakes (a tsp or more or less to taste)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Red wine (always cook with a decent wine, never “cooking” wine) about a cup or cup and a half
- Meat – such as Italian sausage or some nice beef or pork ribs or pork chops
Ok…I ALWAYS make my sauce with meat, so start with a deep, heavy pot and add about 3-4 TBS of olive oil. On high heat, once the oil is hot, start frying the sausage or pork, Let the meat get good and caramelized although you don’t have to cook it all the way through because you’ll add it back to the sauce to finish. Once the meat is browned take it out of the pot, put it on a plate and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium and sauté the tomato paste for a couple of minutes until it begins to “melt”. Add the chopped garlic and sauté with the tomato paste for just a minute (no longer or it will burn). Then add about a cup of the red wine and deglaze the pan with it, scrapping up all the good bits that stuck to the bottom when cooking the meat.
When the wine reduces by about ½ start adding the canned tomatoes. Add one can of hot water for every can of tomatoes you use.
Now start adding the dried Italian seasonings. I eyeball it but I would guess a good 2 TBS is fine. Add about another ½ cup of red wine, with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything into the sauce. It will be very thin at this point.
Add back the cooked meat. Now this is important….at the bottom of the plate you let the meat rest on will be some of the oil and juices that seeped out. Pour that back into the pot. It has a lot of flavor in it.
Bring the sauce back to a boil then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for at least 1 and a half hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from burning. It should reduce by about a third or a little less and get thicker. The meat will absorb the sauce and get very tender.
When I make meatballs, I don’t fry them, I bake them on a sheet pan. When I do, I add them to the simmering sauce when they’re done so they also absorb the flavor.
I usually make the sauce early in the day and after it’s done, just let it sit on the stove until dinner then I re-heat it. This should make enough sauce for a couple of dinners or good sized lasagna.
Homemade Goodies
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! That, of course, means even more time in the ol' kitchen!
Once upon a time, I was out there in the rat-race, but it's been quite a while. It's definitely age... I just can't tolerate the crowds, the cranky, demanding people, the lines... any of it. Did I mention age?!?
Now, it's all about homemade gifts - preferably edible. I would much rather give - and receive - something homemade than a mass-produced whatever from the mall.
For the first ten years Victor and I were together, we bought mounds and mounds of gifts for one another. And then, one year, we realized we were merely buying things for the sake of buying things. We didn't need anything. And it's not like we were paying cash for any of it... Credit cards are so convenient - and truly evil.
So we stopped, pretty much cold-turkey. I have to admit it still feels a bit strange, once in a while, but now we tend to buy things for one another throughout the year. Little surprises just because...
Now we spend money on things like bottles and jars and mail-order ingredients when I can't find something locally. Or trays for the cookies we give to neighbors...
This year, we decided to try something different - worcestershire sauce and vanilla. I mean... when was the last time you had homemade worcestershire sauce?!? For me, the answer was never!
I have to admit it's pretty outrageous. Spicier than your basic Lea & Perins, but with that same bold flavor... It wasn't difficult to make, either...
The original recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated.
Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground clove
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 shallots, minced
- 1 tube anchovy paste
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
Toast the spices in small skillet over medium heat, until fragrant, about 1 minute. This will bring out their flavor. Set aside. Whisk vinegar, water, molasses, fish sauce, and tamarind paste together and set aside.
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat until shimmering. Add shallots and cook until softened and browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add anchovies, garlic, and toasted spices and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Whisk in vinegar mixture, scrapping up any browned bits. Bring to boil, remove from heat and allow to cool for 1 hour.
Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer and bottle. Keep cool and refrigerate after opening.
Another fun thing we made was Vanilla - from Vanilla Beans and Myer's Rum.
I actually started this last year right after Christmas. It's been sitting in the basement aging and mellowing for a year. It's rich vanilla with a rum kick. I think a few fun desserts will be made with this!
I didn't use a recipe... I just split about 30 vanilla beans and steeped them in a 750ml bottle of Myer's, shaking it now and again when I was downstairs... A couple of weeks ago, I straind it, filled the bottles, and added a fresh vanilla bean to each.
It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Now for some cookie baking after canning the pasta sauce!
Birthday Burgers & Gifts in the Mail
I decided when I got up this morning that we were going to have burgers for dinner. Ridiculous burgers with everything on them including the kitchen sink.
What I didn't know when I got up was Mr. Mailman was going to deliver a package with homemade Bread and Butter Pickles and homemade Peach Preserves from Ann and Melinda!!
WOW!
What a fabulous surprise! I immediately opened the box, opened the jars - and dug in! What a treat! These were not intended as a birthday present, but they did arrive on my birthday. I just love presents!
And words will never do justice to the taste! I'm officially spoiled. They're sweet but not sweet, crunchy but tender. Perfect texture and perfect flavor. No other pickle will ever do. Ever.
And the preserves...
This is stand-in-front-of-the-refrigerator-with-a-spoon-good! It is peaches. Fabulous, ripe peaches. No cloying sweetness - just give-me-more peaches. My grandmother made peach preserves when we were little and I always thought hers was the best on the planet. I think grandma may have met her match.
Wow, indeed!
So, tonight's burger didn't get peach preserves on it, but it did get a hefty helping pf pickles. And cheese, mayo, homemade Irish Whiskey mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, bacon, avocado, and red onion. On a poppy seed roll.
Fresh fruit doused with Fico d'India - prickly pear liqueur - helped balance the burger. I mean... I could have gone for french fries, but... I needed to save room for Carrot Cake!
Happy Birthday, to me! What a great day it has been!
Sunday Sauce
Welcome to Sunday at the Dineen/Martorano household. Just starting to simmer on the stove is a vat of sauce I will be canning later on today. A 21-quart pot prit' near filled to the rim with simmering scintillating sauce! I'm pretty psyched!
We used to make big batches of sauce and freeze it in 1 quart tupperware containers - and then Victor got me a pressure canner! What a great addition to the family! I have had so much fun canning different things - and I really can't wait until the summer garden is over-producing! Making sauce with quality canned tomatoes is one thing - making it from tomatoes out of your own garden is a league of its own!
He doesn't make a complicated sauce. It's rich and flavorful and stands on its own, but can also be used as a base for other things. It's the perfect all-purpose sauce. And we're gonna have lots of it!
Victor's Sauce
- 2 - 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
- 1 - Sm can tomato paste
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (or to taste if you like more) chopped fine
- Olive oil
- Dried Italian seasonings
- Hot red pepper flakes (a tsp or more or less to taste)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Red wine (always cook with a decent wine, never “cooking” wine) about a cup or cup and a half
- Meat – such as Italian sausage or some nice beef or pork ribs or pork chops
Ok…I ALWAYS make my sauce with meat, so start with a deep, heavy pot and add about 3-4 TBS of olive oil. On high heat, once the oil is hot, start frying the sausage or pork, Let the meat get good and caramelized although you don’t have to cook it all the way through because you’ll add it back to the sauce to finish. Once the meat is browned take it out of the pot, put it on a plate and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium and sauté the tomato paste for a couple of minutes until it begins to “melt”. Add the chopped garlic and sauté with the tomato paste for just a minute (no longer or it will burn). Then add about a cup of the red wine and deglaze the pan with it, scrapping up all the good bits that stuck to the bottom when cooking the meat.
When the wine reduces by about ½ start adding the canned tomatoes. Add one can of hot water for every can of tomatoes you use.
Now start adding the dried Italian seasonings. I eyeball it but I would guess a good 2 tbsp is fine. Add about another ½ cup of red wine, with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything into the sauce. It will be very thin at this point.
Add back the cooked meat. Now this is important….at the bottom of the plate you let the meat rest on will be some of the oil and juices that seeped out. Pour that back into the pot. It has a lot of flavor in it.
Bring the sauce back to a boil then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for at least 1 and a half hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from burning. It should reduce by about a third or a little less and get thicker. The meat will absorb the sauce and get very tender.
When I make meatballs, I don’t fry them, I bake them on a sheet pan. When I do, I add them to the simmering sauce when they’re done so they also absorb the flavor.
I usually make the sauce early in the day and after it’s done, just let it sit on the stove until dinner then I re-heat it. This should make enough sauce for a couple of dinners or good sized lasagna.
We just used up the last of the batch he made before Christmas. Some of that batch went out as Christmas gifts. This one is going into the cupboard! It's mine! All mine!!! All 18 quarts!
We used one for dinner.
The older I get - and I am getting old and crotchety - the more I really appreciate slower, simpler food. I'm totally over mass-produced instant gratification food. I just don't care that a frozen whatever or a canned or refrigerated whatever tastes fabulous - I'm not bringing it home. I can totally appreciate the artistry behind a fabulous restaurant meal. I'd rather sit home and make a pot of soup.
Of course, in a mere 82 days we'll be heading to Sicily for 2 weeks. I think there will be a restaurant meal or two in my future while we're on the island. But I also think the places we'll be eating will be off the beaten track and more neighborhood rustic than Michelin starred. And the villa we rented has an organic garden - and we have exclusive use of it. More time in the kitchen!
Then, again... I'm not there, yet. Anything is possible. Because my preference today is for one thing does not preclude me from wanting and/or enjoying something entirely different tomorrow. It's why I don't make meal plans and figure out meals for the week. I don't know what I'm going to want on Thursday. I'll figure that out, then.
In the meantime, I'm going to have a lot of sauce to play with.
I'm pleased.
Pressure Canning
I have been having some serious fun in the kitchen! Not that I don't always have fun in the kitchen, but our new pressure canner is serious fun!
I've done a bit of canning over the years but it's always been hot water bath. Jams and peppers, for the most part - easy to do. Lately, I've thought about venturing out and seeing what else I could get into a Mason jar and last week while sitting on the couch and talking about it, Victor ordered me a new pressure canner! Merry Christmas!
The first thing I made was a triple batch of Katja's Bacon Jam. And then I asked Victor to make a big batch of sauce. Tomato sauce has to be pressure-canned - there's just no way a hot water bath will get it hot enough. We usually have sauce in the freezer, but I really wanted jars on the shelf. We have a lot more shelf-space than freezer-space.
Yesterday, when I got home from work, there was almost 4 gallons of sauce simmering away on the stove! Gastronomic heaven!
I boiled my jars, sanitized the lids, and went to work. It takes about 2 hours to can quarts of sauce - that's everything from bringing the canner up to pressure, the actual canning time, and the cool-down. I had to do two batches - the canner will only hold 7 quarts - but most of it is unattended. I just came in and checked that the pressure was consistent a couple of times.
Victor made this with #10 cans of San Marzano tomatoes from Italy, but I'm already planning sauce made from tomatoes out of the garden!
Oh boy!
I see fun in our future!
Bacon Jam
Okay. Stop what you're doing right now and make this. Really. And make at least a double batch. Really.
I have just found my new favorite food. Really.
My friend Katja mentioned this on Facebook the other day and had the recipe in her notes. I read it and knew I had to make it immediately. It's funny, because while I like bacon, I tend to like it as bacon - with eggs at breakfast, on a burger or BLT - and leave the chocolate-dipping and crushed over cupcakes to someone else.
Yet, when I read the recipe I knew I had to make it right away. It hit all of the right buttons. Part of it was definitely the ingredients - this is food-science at its finest. Frying, caramelizing, smoke, sweet, acid, spice - and the brilliance of coffee, one of my most favorite ingredients in soups and stews. Another part was imagining all I could do with it. My mind goes into serious overload, sometimes, when I start thinking about what I can do with something. It's why I pretty much never make the same thing twice the same way. There's just too many things to eat to keep making the same things the same way all the time...
But I digress...
I decided to start off with a double-batch - I had that much confidence that it would be fabulous. And I was right - it is fabulous!
I started it at 3pm and planned on putting some on top of the pork chops we were having for dinner. Dinner is at 5 o'clock sharp, because Nonna needs her routine, so instead of pureeing it boiling hot, I just spooned some onto the chops.
O.M.G.
It was thick, gooey, sweet, smoky, just a tad spicy and rich beyond belief. A little of this will go a long way. Victor took a bite and immediately thought of adding it to baked beans. I went with a cheeseburger. But a couple slices of bread and some lettuce and tomato would work, too.
I'm wishing I had a pressure-canner because I'd love to make a lot and give it out as gifts - water bath would not work with this. Maybe I'll have to speak with Santa.
In the meantime, grab the ingredients and make it. Tonight.
Here's Katja's recipe. I used regular Tabasco and added some smoked paprika.
Bacon "Jam"
- 1 lb. smoked bacon (or use regular bacon and add liquid smoke) **
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
- 3 T(ablespoons) brown sugar
- Tabasco sauce to taste **
- 1 c coffee
- 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 maple syrup (BUY THE GOOD STUFF)
- black pepper to taste
- extra water
In a non-stick pan, fry bacon in batches until beginning to brown and get crispy. Once cool, cut into 1" or so pieces and set aside. In SOME of the rendered bacon fat, sautee onions and garlic until translucent. Transfer all of the onions and bacon to a heavy based pot or cast iron pot and all the remaining ingredients. Stir to combine; simmer over med-low heat for 2 hours. Every 25-30 mins, stir pot and add water (as needed). "Jam" should be thick and void of liquid when finished. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Using a food processor, pulse to desired texture. Serve almost any way you can think with bacon: on a burger or chicken burger, on a BLT, on any sandwich, really, etc.
** I used TJ's bacon ends and pieces and chipotle Tabasco to add the smokiness
I really do see this as being a regular item in the 'fridge.
Chipotle Peach BBQ Sauce
When life hands you peaches - make a chipotle peach barbecue sauce.
Peaches have become my favorite summer fruit. It used to be apricots, closely followed by plums, but since moving east, the apricots and plums just don't cut it. The California peaches, on the other hand, have been spectacular.
It's not easy using up 5 pounds of peaches, but I gave it that ol' college try, today! I started with a sweet and spicy chipotle peach BBQ sauce.
I've made a few peach BBQ sauces over the years... this one, however, is the best, yet! It has the smokey heat of the chipotle powder and the sweetness of the peaches and brown sugar, with the perfect amount of tartness from apple cider vinegar. I done good.
The recipe made about a quart and a half. It will sit in the 'fridge for a goodly amount of time. I don't have to worry about using it up any time soon - especially since we're heading west on Wednesday! Can't wait to see everyone!
We should have a lot of tomatoes out back when we get home... Maybe a batch of this later in the season for canning?!? Hmmmmmmmm.....
Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 6 peaches, chopped
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 4oz can chopped green chiles
- pinch black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until peaches are cooked through.
Using an immersion blender, blend sauce thoroughly and completely.
Continue simmering until thick, stirring to keep sauce from scorching.
Homemade Chevre
Who woulda thunk that some goat milk and some lemon juice could create something so outrageously good?
I'm impressed. Really impressed.
Victor started with the cheese-making a while back with homemade ricotta. We've had it a few times - mostly as a dessert. It's really awesome, rich, and fun to use. Today, he decided it was time to try chevre.
There are several ways to make a homemade chevre, with lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk, and any number of commercial starters with a score of unpronounceable ingredients. Today, we opted for the basic lemon juice.
The concept is pretty simple.
Start with a half-gallon of goat milk. NOT ultra-pasteurized - which you shouldn't buy, anyway.
Slowly heat milk until it reaches 180°
Add lemon juice and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pour into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Victor used a flour sack towel.
Hang the bundle over the pot to drain with a wooden spoon.
Shape it into a log and chill.
Homemade Chevre
adapted from About.com
- 1/2 gal quart goat's milk
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- salt to taste
Slowly heat the milk on the stove until it reaches 180°. Gentle bubbles should be forming and the surface will look foamy. Turn off the heat.
Stir in the lemon juice then let the milk sit for 10 minutes. The milk should curdle and become slightly thicker on the surface.
Line a colander with two layers of cheese cloth. Gently pour the milk into the cheese cloth then gather the cheesecloth up around the curds and tie it into a bundle.
Hang the bundle over a pot so the liquid can drip out. (You can do this by attaching the bundle to a wooden spoon or a ladle and setting the spoon over the top of the pot.)
Let the cheese drain for at least 1 1/2 hours. Scrape the cheese into a bowl. Stir in salt and/or other ingredients to taste.
Use your hands to pat and shape the cheese into a small wheel or log.
The flavor and texture of the cheese usually improves a little bit if you refrigerate it for a few hours before serving. The goat cheese should stay fresh in the refrigerator for 1 week.
This really, really is awesome! It's not difficult and can be made with items many folks already have at home.
And if you have kids? A great project to get them to see how real food is made and a way to get them to eat something different.
We'll be making more. And more. And more.
Homemade Ricotta
We're planning dessert for Wednesday. I had an idea for s broiled peach with fresh ricotta and a warmed honey and pistachio topping. Victor suggested figs and balsamic.
I started drooling.
Decisions, decisions... I decided I had to make both and see which one I liked best. Actually, I decided that a balsamic reduction with pistachios would work with either, so I nixed the honey completely.
Victor made the homemade ricotta today, so I went to work...
I sliced a peach and a couple of figs in half and sprinkled them with demerara sugar. Under the broiler they went until the sugar crystallized and the fruit was heated through- just a couple of minutes.
I topped each piece of fruit with some homemade ricotta and then drizzled everything with a balsamic reduction. The final act was chopped roasted and salted pistachios.
Both of them were stellar...
Fresh Ricotta
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 tsp salt
Add all ingredients to a heavy pot and simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Scoop curds into a cheesecloth-lined sieve and drain about 30 minutes. Squeeze to remove as much whey as possible.
Cover and chill.
Balsamic reduction is pretty basic. Place balsamic vinegar in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce by at least half, until it is syrupy. Be careful not to burn it and use the vent or open windows...
So the question is... which one will be dessert on Wednesday?
Find out Wednesday...
Irish Whiskey Mustard
I have made so many different sauces in my life I flat-out can't remember half of them. From the classic French sauces to mayonnaise to a basic ketchup, I've made 'em. But I've never made mustard. Until today.
I don't know what kept me - I have loved mustard since forever. We always have at least a half-dozen - usually more - different mustards in the 'fridge at any given moment, from traditional yellow to dijon, spicy brown - and then the off-the-wall ones from local shops or spiced with chipotles, garlic, hot/sweet/honey... they are there.
A while back a friend of Victor's sent him a recipe for a beer mustard. I was intrigued. I sent off for some mustard seeds and the rest, as they say, is history. The beer mustard didn't turn out - methinks my beer was old - but I thought it out, did a bit of research, and decided there just isn't anything that can't be done with some mustard seeds and a bit of vinegar!
I thought a nice Irish Whiskey mustard would be a good start - and I was right! It's smokin'! I used a combination of yellow and brown seeds. Yellow are milder and brown are hotter.
The seeds need to soak in the liquid for a day or two, so plan accordingly.
These are the seeds after soaking two days. The mustard came out just a tad thinner than I would have liked, so I've adjusted the liquid a bit in the recipe, below.
Irish Whiskey Mustard
- 2/3 cup yellow mustard seeds
- 1/3 cup brown mustard seeds
- 1 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 cup Irish Whiskey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Place mustard seeds, water, vinegar, and Irish whiskey in a non-reactive bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let sit at room temperature about 2 days.
Blend mixture in a blender with the brown sugar and salt until smooth.
I have no idea how long it will last in the 'fridge, but it should have a pretty hefty shelf-life...
Fresh mustard is hot. It loses its heat over time. Enjoy it as it is or try a mustard cream sauce... Or add it to your favorite dishes.
Just enjoy it. And then make more.
I bought my mustard seeds at Atlantic Spice Co on Cape Cod. It's where I buy all my spices.
I may never buy mustard, again. This is too easy and too much fun!